Free Love's Peril (Lord Trent Series) by Cheryl Holt Page A

should head home. Make my goodbyes to Mildred, will you?”
    “I will.”
    “I’ll stop by tomorrow, when things are less hectic.”
    He huffed out, then Caroline shut the door, assuring their privacy.
    “This better be good,”Sarah said. “We’ve annoyed Sheldon, and I’ll never hear the end of it—from him or from Mildred.”
    “Sheldon can choke on a crow.” Caroline had never liked the man. “You won’t believe what I just learned.”
    “What?”
    “I was talking to Mr. Hook out on the verandah.”
    “Really, Caroline, should you socialize with him?”
    “Well, we’re lucky I was.” She led Sarah to the sofa and eased them both down.
    “What did he say?”
    “Mr. Sinclair is a gambler.”
    “Oh, no.” A sick feeling of dread surged through Sarah’s stomach. “Why do I suspect I won’t like what you’re about to tell me?”
    “Hedley gambled with him. He lost and lost and lost, and finally, he bet Bramble Bay.”
    “Hedley bet…Bramble Bay?”
    “Yes. Mr. Sinclair won it—right down to the clothes on our backs.”
    Sarah’s eyes narrowed, and she shook her head, wanting to deny Caroline’s words.
    “No, it can’t be. It just can’t be. You must have misheard.”
    “I didn’t, Sarah. He’s owned it for months, and he’s here to take possession.”
    “Take…possession? He expects to move in and we are to…what? To leave?”
    “Yes.”
    “With a few bags over our shoulders like a pack of vagrants.”
    “We won’t get to take any bags. Nothing belongs to us anymore.”
    Sarah recalled her conversation with him the prior night. He’d mentioned leaving, that he’d never see her again, and she’d assumed he meant that he was leaving. He’d peppered her with questions about whether she had a dowry, whether she had anywhere to go if disaster struck.
    She’d thought he was simply being nosy, but apparently, he’d been concerned as to what would become of her after he tossed her out of her home.
    Fury sparked.
    Bramble Bay had been in her family for generations. Even though Hedley had inherited it when their father died, Sarah didn’t view it as Hedley’s. Bramble Bay was hers, the Teasdale ancestral seat, and it wasn’t his to fritter away. Nor could Mr. Sinclair seize it with a turn of the cards.
    It would be nice if such wretched conduct was illegal, but it wasn’t. The kingdom was rife with stories of ruination, of squandered fortunes and lost property. She’d never paid much heed to the woeful tales, deeming the participants to have suffered their just desserts for immoral behavior.
    But now, they were dealing with her home, her world, and Hedley’s catastrophe would crush all of them—when they’d played no part in the debacle. She refused to accept such a heinous result.
    “And guess what?”Caroline continued.
    “What?”
    “They’re gambling tonight. Here in the house.”
    “Gambling? Why?”
    “Hedley wants a chance to win everything back. Mr. Sinclair agreed to let him try.”
    Sarah pondered foolish, spoiled Hedley, and urbane, sophisticated John Sinclair. Only an imbecile would figure it to be an even match.
    “That’s insane,”Sarah fumed. “Mr. Sinclair will eat him alive.”
    “I certainly think so.”
    “You’re sure, Caroline? You’re not making this up?”
    “As if I could invent a tragedy this horrid! I asked Mr. Hook if he’d like to stroll down to the beach, and he can’t because he’ll be busy keeping track of Mr. Sinclair’s gold coins.”
    “I’m in a state of shock.”
    “So am I, and listen to this: I pleaded with Mr. Hook to intervene, to dissuade Mr. Sinclair, but he said he wouldn’t because Mildred and Hedley are getting exactly what they deserve.”
    “What they deserve? What does that mean? Prior to yesterday, I’d never seen Mr. Sinclair before in my life. How could he know enough about us to hate us?”
    “I have no idea, but obviously, there are things transpiring that are beyond our imagining.”
    A bit earlier,